Combined air deflector and fin brace



v April 9, 1946- w. H, FRANCISCO, JR 2,398,216

COMB INE'D AIR DEFLECTOR AND FIN BRAQE Filed April 24, 1945 ssheets-sheet 1 UEUEUEEEE HDEUUDUD INVENTOR WILLIAM/7i FRA rfc/sco, dm

ApriE 9, 1946 w. HERA-Nusco, JR 2,398,216

COMBINED AIR DEFLECTOR AND FIN BRACE Filed April 24, 194:5 ssheets-sheet 2 lNv TOR WILLIAM H. NCISCQJR.

ATTORN EY w. H. FRANCISCO, JR 2,398,216

COMBINED AIR DEFLECTOR AND FIN BRACE April 9, 1946.

, l Filed April 24, 1943 3' Sheets-Sheet 5 lNvENToR WILLIAMHFRANc/scqdR.

BY ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 9, 1946 COMBINED AIR DEFLECTOR AND FIN BRACEWilliam H. Francisco, Jr., Bloomfield, N. J., as-

signor to Wright Aeronautical Corporation, a

corporation of New York Application April 24, 1943, Serial No. 484,445

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a cooling n structure and is concerned withimprovement-s in such heat radiating structure particularly as appliedto the cylinders of an internal combustion engine.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple structure by-whichthe edges of thin, deep heat radiating ns may be secured to one anotherin order to prevent yrelative movement therebetween. In this way eachiin contributes to the rigidity of the whole assembly.l A further objectof this invention is to provide a lin brace which does not require priormachining of the ns before the brace may be secured in place.

Another problem in such cooling iin structure is to provide means toconne the airflow to the space between a heat radiating body and theouter perimeter of the fins secured thereto. Accordingly, it is afurther object of this invention to provide airow deecting means alongthe outer perimeter of the fins. A further object of this invention isto provide a member which has the dual function of not only bracing thens but also of properly delecting and guiding the airflow along theiins.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent in reading theannexed detailed description in connection with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a cylinder embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view along the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view illustrating the combined n bracing and airderlecting members assembled on the ns;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View along the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged View of a combined fin brace and air deflectingmember; and

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1 1 of Fig. 6.

Now referring to the drawings, an internal combustion engine cylinderbarrel, illustrated at I0, is provided with the usual ns l2, and acylinder head I4 secured to the cylinder barrel is provided with radialns I6, axial ns I8 across the head, and ns 20 about the exhaust port.The cylinder head is provided with an intake valve rocker box 22 and anexhaust Valve rocker box 24 together with the usual spark plug holes 26.I'his cylinder head construction is typical of modern radial cylinderair-cooled aircraft engines.

The ns on the cylinder barrel and head are relatively long and thin andtherefore are subject to vibration and bending. In order to provide arelatively rigid fin structure a plurality of fin brace members 28 aremounted across the fins. As illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, each of theseelements consists of a sheet metal strip having elongated apertures Si)transversely cut therein. The spacing of these apertures corresponds tothe n spacing, and each aperture has a width suflicient to permitpassage of the n therethrough. In addition, each iin brace is providedwith a curved cross section as illustrated in Fig. 7. With thisconstruction it is possible to aline the apertures 3l! in each iin bracemember 28 with the fins to be braced and with the concave side of eachbrace member facing outwardly. Then the member 28 may be inserted overthe ns so that the ns extend through the apertures 30, as illustrated inFigs. 4 and 5. Thus, when assembled over the fins, the web portions 32of the brace members 28 extend between the ns to provide a substantiallyrigid brace therebetween. The brace members are mounted so that theadjoining braces overlap,fand.the portion of the ns projecting throughthe apertures 3D is peened over, as indicated at 32, Fig. 4, to therebysecurely hold the bracemembers in place. With this construction nomachining of the ns is necessary and since the brace members themselvesare all punched out of sheet metal, a very simple and economicalstructure is provided.

The braces are mounted so that adjoining braces overlap and since theapertures 30 formed in each brace member are closed by the portion ofthe fin projecting therethrough, these brace members provide an airdeflecting surface along the outer edge of the fins. Therefore, thesebrace members may be used to properly direct the airow around thecylinder barrel and head. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a conventionalair-cooled cylinder having the above described brace members disposedalong the sides of the cylinder barrel and over the top of the cylindervhead. In this way, air striking the front of the cylinder is conductedaround the cylinder barrel between the barrel and the outer ends of thefins. Similarly on the cylinder head the brace members are disposed soas to conne the airflow to the space between the head and the outer endsof the ns. Thus the iin brace members are adapted to brace and properlyspace the ns and in addition, when these members are disposed on thecylinder, as herein disclosed, these members are also operative to connethe airow to the space between the cylinder and the outer ends of thefins.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the brace members 28 are disposed about thesides of the cylinder barrel and head so as to leave an air entranceopening 34 and an air exit opening 36. Similarly, as illustrated in Fig.2, the brace members 28 are disposed across the top of the cylinder headso as to leave an air entrance opening 38 and an air exit opening 40.The space between adjacent cylinders may be blocked by suitable bafes,as is common practice, for example, as disclosed in Patent No. 2,057,010to Roland Chilton. However, any desired baffle structure between theadjacent radial cylinders may be used in order to prevent airflowthrough the space between the cylinders.

It is obvious that although the invention has been disclosed as appliedto an air-cooled cylinder for an internal combustion engine, other heatradiating devices may be improved by the use of the above describedinvention. The arrangement of the brace members on a particular coolingfin structure depends among other things on the direction of the airilowand on the shape or contour of the heat radiating device and its coolingn structure.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferredembodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, afterunderstanding my invention, that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Iaim in the appended claims to cover all such modications and changes.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a heat radiating body having a plurality of spacedparallel ns, a sheetlike member disposed substantially along the surfacedelned by the outer edges of said fins and extending a substantialdistance along said edges to provide an air deflecting membertherealong, said member having a plurality of parallel elon gated slotseach closed at both ends, said slots having a width and spacingcorresponding to the thickness and spacing of said fins, said iinsprojecting through said slots and at least a portion of the material ofsaid fins projecting through said slots being deformed to overlap theouter surface of said member adjacent the sides of said slots and thematerial of said member closing thev ends of said slots extendingtransversely across the outer edges of said ns.

2. In combination, a heat radiating body having a plurality of spacedparallel fins, combined iin brace and air deilecting means disposedacross said ns adjacent their outer edges, said means having a pluralityof rows of parallel slots each closed at both ends, said slots having awidth and spacing corresponding to the thickness and spacing of saidflns, the shape of said means relative to the contour of the outer edgeof said fins being such that the fins project through said slots, atleast a portion of the material of said fins projecting through saidslots being deformed to overlap the outer surface of said means and thematerial of said means closing the ends of said slots extendingtransversely across the outer edges of said ns.

3. In combination, a heat radiating body having a plurality of spacedparallel fins, a plurality of combined fin brace and air deector membersdisposed in side-by-side relation along and adjacent to the outer edgesof said fins, said members each being of sheet-like construction andhaving a plurality of parallel slots each closed at both ends, saidslots having a width and spacing corresponding to the thickness andspacing of said ns, said fins projecting through said slots and at leasta portion of the material of said fins projecting through said slotsbeing deformed to overlap'the outer surface of the associated memberadjacent the sides of said slots and the material of said membersclosing the ends of said slots extending transversely across the outeredges of said ns.

4. In combination, a heat radiating body having a plurality of spacedparallel iins, combined iin brace and air deflecting means disposedacross said fins adjacent their outer edges, said means being ofsheet-like material and having a corrugated cross-section definingalternate ridges and grooves disposed transversely of said iins with arow of parallel slots spaced along each groove, the ends of said slotsbeing closed by the material of the ridges on opposite sides of thegrooves within which each said slot is disposed, said slots extendingacross their associated grooves and having a width and spacingcorresponding to thc thickness and spacing of said ns, said iinsprojecting through said slots and at least a portion of the material ofsaid iins projecting through said slots being deformed to overlap theassociated grove surface of said means and the ridges of said meansextending transversely across the outer edges of said tins.

WILLIAM H. FRANCISCO, Jr..

